Matcha Weight Loss Tips:
Matcha Green Tea is one of the hidden “superfoods” that has been around for centuries but most people are just now discovering it. It is a super-charged version of regular green tea, and it is an ideal product to facilitate natural and healthy weight loss - effectively. Matcha is one of nature’s best aids to weight management.
Numerous studies have been done over the past several years concerning the weight loss benefits of drinking green tea; especially Matcha Green Tea.
Matcha green tea assists and literally super-charges your weight loss regime! Why Matcha especially? Because it contains over 10 times the nutritional value of any other green tea and is 10 times or more effective compared to regular green tea for healthy and sustained weight loss!
There are hundreds of weight loss products on the market today claiming to be the missing link to weight loss. You have to be cautious because many products can be harmful to the body’s overall health and are not truly natural. Don’t waste your money buying green tea tablets for weight loss because Matcha green tea is much more potent and effective for weight loss and increasing your metabolism.
What is great about Matcha is that it is a food that naturally occurs in nature that is harvested, dried, ground into powder and then shipped directly. This is a whole food that not only helps the body reach its ideal weight but is extremely nutritious and healing to the body at the same time.
Daily cleansing with Matcha is key to long term weight loss
The best way to kick off long-term weight loss - and a new lifestyle - is to include a daily regime of Matcha tea in the morning which naturally helps the digestion and cleansing in your body. Cleansing is key for multiple reasons, and it has a direct effect on weight loss in that you have stored weight in the form of fat cells that have built up in your colon and abdominal areas. Fat stores in all your systems including your tissue, skin, around your organs and it all leads to unnecessary toxic weight.
A necessary first step you can take towards natural weight loss is to infuse both a morning matcha drink and an afternoon matcha tea. You will feel some initial energy fluctuation because you are essentially righting the ship and your body will have to adapt to the change. More than not though you will feel a rise in energy because of the fact that digestion takes more energy than any other process, and you are giving the body a rest from digestion allowing the Matcha tea to do all the work. Through cleansing, or detoxification, you clear and filter toxins, stored fat cells and waste products. This process allows your body to work on enhancing its basic functions, especially digestion and daily cleansing. Once your body is clean and working well, you can handle most toxins and use or eliminate the food you eat instead of letting it build up as excess weight in your body.
Get the Most Out of Your Workouts with Matcha Tea
To reach and maintain your overall optimum energy, it is essential to not only eat well, but also to maintain a consistent level of physical activity. This is where Matcha green tea can play an important role. With your workouts, whether your goal is to increase endurance, increase metabolism and/or drop excess visceral fat (the fat stored in the abdominal area), Matcha green tea can assist the body with all three.
The key is to drink Matcha daily. Drinking only 1-2 cups per week of Matcha only before workouts will not allow you to experience the full potential. You will always experience a boost of energy and endurance from one serving of Matcha before a workout but to see results in muscle toning and fat burning, this tea should be drunk on a regular basis.
It is ideal to drink Matcha regularly (2-3 times daily) and when exercising make sure that one of those cups is within 1⁄2 hour before exercising. One serving, about 1⁄2 to 1 tsp of Matcha, consumed pre- workout will help fuel and maintain the body. Keep in mind that your endurance will increase incrementally over a couple months. You will experience greater energy on a daily basis along with your workouts by the time weeks 8-10 approach with drinking Matcha daily. Various studies have found that physical endurance will improve as much as 20-25% with drinking Matcha on a daily basis and incorporating it into your workouts.
Tip...Did you know that your body is in a state of cleansing from about 4am until 8am? Naturally, your body will be emptier and more cleaned out in the morning than any other time of the day. This is a choice time to engage in physical activity because your body is not preoccupied with digesting a sum of food from the present day. The morning time is ideal for burning those extra stored sugars and fats– your body has less food to burn. I don’t advise rolling out of bed, drinking some water and then doing one hour of intense cardio. Your body does need food/energy in some form. Keep it simple. A high- energy and nutrient rich drink, such as a smoothie, with 1 serving of Matcha added.
Why You Should Drink Matcha Every Morning
Your long term weight loss, your energy, and your health, are directly affected by what you put in your body, especially upon waking until noon. What you eat and drink during this time period is crucial and you have the power to mold the rest of your day. Matcha is an alkaline superfood available to us from nature and foods which are alkaline can help balance and heal the body allowing unnecessary stored fats and toxins to be eliminated. Endless research has shown that alkaline foods and drinks in the morning jumpstart the body to burn fuel more efficiently and crave less unhealthy foods throughout the day. Feeding your system alkaline superfoods, like Matcha in the morning, jumpstarts your metabolism for the day, creating the ideal environment for burning and cleansing excess fat cells. As a bonus your body receives good energy and nutrients throughout the day, simply from Matcha.
Think about it, loading up on a high energy drink in the morning like Matcha will not only give you more energy but satisfaction, mental clarity and a happy tummy. The health and sustained weight loss are only a result of what you do on a daily basis – take this daily morning step that can become a ritual.
Increase your metabolism with Matcha
If one of your goals is to increase your metabolism Matcha is one of nature’s best and most natural aids. Matcha naturally increases your body’s energy and heat production during cardio and resistance training which tells the body to burn more calories, specifically fat calories, resulting in weight loss. Those using Matcha regularly can burn up to four times more calories per workout session.
Studies have found that your metabolism can increase as much as 30- 40% simply through drinking Matcha daily and incorporating it into your workout.
What to Eat for Your Workout Regime
a few suggestions....
I think of exercise less in terms of losing weight, and more in terms of increasing your sustained and balanced energy, which slows down the aging process, and improves your daily life in terms of how you feel. Weight loss is just one of the byproducts of exercise, and should not be the sole focus.
To reach and maintain your overall optimum energy, it is essential to not only eat well, but also to maintain a consistent level of physical activity. Exercising your body brings a balance physically, emotionally and spiritually, and is thus a key to both vitality and rejuvenation. Studies have shown that exercising can reduce your biological age by 10 to 20 years. Foods play an important role with exercise. They can enhance or detract from your workouts. Let’s discuss...
Choosing foods that maximize your endurance & performance levels
Timing your meals for cardio vs. anaerobic workouts
Recovery foods & Eating for your workouts. When you start an exercise program, you will want to have an energy strategy to go with it. As I have said, every one of us has a unique body design, and therefore has different energy needs depending on the intensity, goals, and time of day of your workout. No matter what time of day, always follow the ‘natural’ versus ‘processed’ guide:
Whole grains versus white flour and white rice
Raw fats and oils versus fried and saturated oils
Natural raw sugars instead of processed white sugar
There are general practices that all of us can follow when preparing the body for a workout. First, you need energy, and energy is created by what you put in your body so regardless of the time of day or intensity of workout, you will want to find the right energy source and should be conscious of how your body will channel that energy.
Here is some helpful advice on the best way to energize for your workout depending on the time of day and the intensity...
Morning Workout: Before and After 5 am – Noon
Your body is in a state of cleansing from about 4am until 8am. Naturally, your body will be emptier and more cleaned out in the morning than any other time of the day. This is a choice time to engage in physical activity because your body is not preoccupied with digesting a sum of food from the present day. The morning time is ideal for burning those extra stored sugars and fats–your body has less food to burn. I don’t advise rolling out of bed, drinking some water and then doing one hour of intense cardio. Your body does need food-energy in some form. Keep it simple, high-energy and nutrient rich. Here are some examples of foods that I use for my morning energy demand:
Green superfood drinks made with coconut water and/or added to a smoothie (don’t forget to add your Matcha) Whole sprouted grains (sprouted bread (toast), whole grain/sugar-free cereal, brown rice, quinoa) or steel cut oats cooked
Dehydrated cookies, cereal or crackers
Raw protein like almonds, hemp, walnuts or tempeh
Small portion of lean meat or egg whites
Vegetables or vegetable juice
Starchy fruits like bananas and dates
Young Thai Coconuts
Raw energy bar
Afternoon Workout Noon – 5 pm
By the afternoon, you will have probably eaten 2-4 meals (hopefully smaller). If you are planning to work out in the afternoon, adapt your eating schedule so that you have the energy you need for an optimal exercise session. A simple guideline is to eat something the size of your palm, about 1⁄2 hour prior to workout, depending on how quickly your body metabolizes food. Focus on the following whole foods and ingredients for sustained good energy:
Dehydrated cookies or crackers
Complex carbohydrates (whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa)
Sandwich with whole grain or spouted bread, veggie, tempeh/tofu or lean white meat in a wrap with whole grain tortillas
Lean animal or plant-based protein (fish, eggs, tempeh, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, hempseeds, pumpkin seeds
Raw fats (avocado, raw nuts, olive oil, and especially coconut oil)
Berries or other raw fruits
Salad (vegetables, tempeh, fish, nuts and seeds, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, avocado, sunflower dressing)
A second green superfood drink. Or make a smoothie and add a scoop of the green or red superfood powders Evening Workout 5 pm – 10 pm
It is always challenging to work out in the evening due to a lack of energy, exhaustion after a full work day, or the desire for a big heavy dinner. My recommendations are very similar to the eating habits for an afternoon workout. First, eat a variety of small meals that include whole foods in their natural state every 2-4 hours throughout the day. This will help you keep your energy level up, and help keep you motivated for your workout. Secondly, if you plan to exercise after 6 pm, I advise eating a small good energy meal by 5:30 or 5:45. Here are some examples of quick energy meals to revitalize the body for evening exercise:
1⁄2 of a raw superfood/nut bar
Fruit sweetened yogurt with raw almonds
A small piece of salmon and a handful of baby carrots
A slice of sprouted bread with nut butter or coconut oil and honey
After your workout, I wouldn’t advise eating a big meal. Keep it simple and light, such as fish and vegetables, humus wrap, tostada, soup, brown rice and vegetables, salad with sprouted bread and avocado.
Timing your Meals
The rule of thumb is to give your body a half-hour to an hour between eating or working out. The time taken is determined by the intensity of your planned workout and what you ate. The digestion of food takes a great deal of energy from your body. Exercise also requires energy. I don’t advise eating and exercising simultaneously or within 15 minutes of each other. Let your body digest a bit and then use that energy, which is now filtering throughout your body, for exercise. Raw foods will generally go through your system quicker, about 15-30 minutes. If you have eaten a lot of animal products, give your body at least 30 minutes before engaging in exercise. You can have a green drink 10 minutes before exercising and it should give you great energy.
Low intensity exercises require less pre-digestion time than high intensity. For example, if you are going for a walk, you probably only need about 15 minutes for proper digestion. If you are going to do yoga, aerobics, weight lifting, jogging, or anything that is moderate to high intensity and increases your heart rate above normal, then you want to wait at least 30 minutes.
Tips on Protein Drinks
Protein Drinks are popular, and are better drunk before or after the workout, not during. Try to allow 15 minutes before or after working out before you have a protein drink. Ideally stick to hemp protein.
Avoid isolated soy protein because it is processed and toxic.
For those with fast metabolisms
For those of you who digest and burn food very quickly, you may need to eat a larger quantity prior to a workout, and/or bring food for a mid- workout snack. If your blood sugar drops quickly when you exercise, you should pay attention and plan ahead. Eat more complex grains, good fats and lean protein before exercising. Fat provides the body with longer lasting energy, so load up on the almonds, salmon and good raw oils. One tablespoon of raw coconut oil right before a workout has produced amazing results for my family. Coconut oil is raw and un-storable so it circulates energy continuously.
After a workout – Recovery foods & products...
Be kind to your body after exercising. It needs to repair and re- hydrate. Drink lots of alkaline water; eat some lean protein such as:
Fish, tempeh, eggs, raw nuts (almonds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts)
Healthy raw fats such as avocados, coconut oil, flaxseed oil, raw nuts; whole grain
breads; grains such as quinoa (extremely high in protein) and brown rice
Vegetables, especially greens Easily digested protein drinks (hemp protein, rice, or nut based) Fresh fruit eaten by itself.
It is also beneficial to take a good quality calcium/magnesium after exercising to help relax the muscles and prevent cramping and soreness the next day. The following products can be great for repairing muscles and joints:
MSM Turmeric Protein enzymes (Bromelain) Raw omega fatty acids(flax, fish & hempseed oil) Ginger Blue-Green algae (‘Blue Mana”)